Rep. Andrea Salinas traveled to Houston the week of July 21 to demand federal accountability for fatal shootings by immigration agents, citing incidents in her Oregon district that includes parts of Washington County and Beaverton.
Salinas, a Tigard Democrat representing Oregon's 6th Congressional District, testified at a Congressional Hispanic Caucus shadow oversight hearing at the Harris County Commissioners Court.
The hearing, which lasted more than two hours, focused on the July 7 killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old father of three and business owner who was driving his construction crew to a job site in Houston's East End when a federal immigration officer shot him.
He was not the target. DHS initially said Salgado Araujo was the intended subject of the operation but later admitted agents said he "resembled the target," according to PBS NewsHour. The Harris County Medical Examiner listed his death as a homicide.
The agent who killed him has not been identified, and DHS has not confirmed whether the agent has been taken off assignment.
"We don't know if he has been taken off assignment, so he could still be on the streets of Houston," Salinas told the Oregon Capital Chronicle. "All of that needs to be disclosed."
None of the agents involved were wearing body cameras. OPB reported that DHS pledged body cameras for all immigration agents months ago but has not followed through.
Why this matters in Beaverton
Salinas's district spans parts of Washington County, home to one of Oregon's largest immigrant communities. As we reported July 20,
Washington County agencies logged 87 federal immigration enforcement requests over the past year, the most of any Oregon county. Statewide, Oregon authorities saw a 246% increase in enforcement requests between June 1, 2025 and May 31, 2026, according to Oregon's Criminal Justice Commission data reported by the Valley Times.
During the hearing, Salinas cited two incidents in her district: the November 2025 detention of a 17-year-old McMinnville high school student, whose car window was shattered by federal agents who ignored his claims of U.S. citizenship, and a January 2026 assault on a Salem woman who was thrown to the ground by agents while on her way to pick up a cake for her grandson. She sustained a torn rotator cuff, a concussion, and bruised ribs. She was a U.S. citizen carrying a passport.
Federal immigration agents have killed at least eight people since the start of the second Trump administration, the Oregon Capital Chronicle reported.
What comes next
Salinas said she is backing a discharge petition led by Rep. Sylvia Garcia, a Houston-area Democrat, to force a House vote on the American Dream and Promise Act, an immigration reform bill.
A discharge petition requires 218 signatures to bypass Republican leadership and bring the bill to the floor. The current signature count has not been reported.
Salgado Araujo's sons, including Ronaldo Salgado, were among six witnesses who testified at the hearing. Ronaldo Salgado asked members of Congress how many more fathers have to die and urged them to take action.
The shadow hearing was convened by Democrats and did not receive approval from the Republican House majority. At least six congressional coalitions have sent letters to DHS demanding answers about the fatal shootings, according to Rep. Garcia.
